West Village's Phase II wraps up apartment construction

Although the public grand-opening party for West Village's Phase II that was initially announced for last week was postponed until later this spring, a gathering and tour for current residents still took place as planned. My thanks to the West Village staff for letting me tag along to this sneak-peek at the second phase of the project.

Phase II is of course the continuation of the renovation of the old Liggett & Myers facility between the city center and Brightleaf Square downtown; a first phase of redevelopment covering the section north of Morgan St. became office and apartment space seven years ago. Now up, and opening this spring, is the large remaining section, including all the Liggett properties south of Morgan to the railroad tracks, except for the Chesterfield building. (For more background on West Village, see part one and part two of our look at the West Village Phase II site renderings from last May.)

From what we've heard, commercial office tenants will be expected to start moving in come late spring/early summer, while the search for retail tenants for the Walker building along Main St. continues. (Not an easy timing given the current real estate and business climate.) At one point the West Village folks were reportedly eyeing at least one downtown Durham restaurant for relocation, though it's not clear that anything came of those discussions.

But it's apartments that make up the bulk of Phase II, and which will be the first element of the project coming online this spring. The four units we saw last week ranged from smaller studios to a 1,400 sq. ft. two-bedroom; prices for these ranged from about $1,000 to just over $1,700 per month.

The Cobb and O'Brien building -- located on the north side of Main -- have a bricked-in courtyard between them, with commercial office space on the first floors and apartments above; the two buildings are connected on the north end of their quad.

The units inside the Cobb and O'Brien include several with loft bedrooms, including a two-bedroom unit in which the smaller bedroom is right off the entry hallway, with a frosted-glass sliding door separating it from the hall. Meantime, an upstairs loft bedroom with accompanying large bath overlooks the main living area.

Unlike some of the other projects we've looked at lately, the West Village units really are outfitted nicely, with some of the best fixture and finish choices I've seen in residential conversion projects in the downtown market. Granite or solid-surface countertops were standard in the units we looked at, and as the unit above demonstrates, gas fireplaces are actually installed in a number of apartments. I took note of the kitchen cabinets in particular, which had a heavy weight and robustness to them, unlike the particleboard cabinets so readily apparent in many apartments.

Above, a view from another furnished model unit, this one a one-bedroom affair. Some units do have washer/dryers in unit; laundry rooms are available throughout the buildings to serve those apartments that lack in-unit facilities.

Of particular interest in terms of amenities are two that will likely be appreciated by current West Village residents. First up, the presence in some units of ceiling fans with integrated overhead lighting, a boon to apartment dwellers everywhere who all-too-frequently bemoan the dimness of the overhead lighting (if any) in their units. Though as this Old Cigarette Factory unit (the complex on the south side of Main St.) demonstrates, natural light isn't really lacking, either:

The other plus -- and one which will be of particular interest to residents of two of the current Phase I units -- is the reported inclusion of greater sound isolation between units in Phase II. This has been an issue that has bedeviled residents in some of the initially-built units, from which residents report being able to hear noise from units all around them.

Also worth noting: an in-ground outdoor swimming pool in the courtyard for the Old Cigarette Factory; it's just barely visible if you look through the western courtyard fence on this part of the complex, near the not-yet-renovated Chesterfield building.

It's unclear how many residents will decide to move over from Phase I to Phase II, though with rents in the new complex noted at as much as $500 above the first phase's, I wouldn't expect a mass migration. For years, there's been a pesky but persistent rumor that the first phase of West Village would "go condo" after some renovation, given that the properties are now eligible to convert from rental status with the end of their historic tax credit restrictions.

We've not been able to uncover anything to confirm or deny that this might happen, but given the overall housing market at a national level, I'm skeptical that we'll see that particular change happen anytime soon.

Above, a view of downtown through the windowed eyes of the Cobb/O'Brien complex.

Apologies for the lousy camera-phone quality of the pictures. We'll run some better photos of the apartments later this spring around the time of the official grand opening.

Comments

[Ginny]

Oooh, this post makes me miss living in West Village so much. The location is fabulous, the amenities were awesome and the apartments beautiful. Thanks for showing us pics of the new phase.

[Durham Bull Pen]

Great! Nice to see some pix of what the units look like. I've watched (and heard) this project evolve from my office, occasionally stopping my work to peer at the workers and their machines, wondering what it would look like as a finished project. Can't wait until it's full of residents and businesses and some restaurants.

It also would be nice if a little neighborhood market/grocery store (non-gourmet, just regular) would open up in the area. I think it would do a great business.

[Michael Bacon]

DBP: The new co-op group I'm involved in is trying to do just that. More details to come in the next few months...

[LittleShanna22]

Make your life time more simple get the loans and all you want.